Trow
Sharing a common ancestor with elves, the trow nonetheless share little in common with their sylvan cousins. While elves generally reside in magnificent forest cities augmented by intricate arcane magic, trow live almost exclusively in frozen, labyrinthine caverns, whose architecture takes more than a few cues from dwarven engineering. Trow are shorter and slighter than elves, but are in many ways physically similar. Proportionally, trows' ears are much larger than elves', and this reflects the fact that trow who venture into the day rely nearly entirely on their sense of hearing to survive: Trow are, outside of dark environs, nearly blind, and their eyes lack both pupils and irises, something most other races find deeply unsettling. Trow have extraordinarily pale skin, as white as their snowy environs, occasionally with an icy blue complexion. Most trow have white or grey hair, which is generally worn long. Trow have especially large canine teeth, and a general anti-trow slur is "bloodsucker", even though, despite all appearances, trow possess no vampiric qualities, other than an aversion to sunlight. Trow society largely depends on the keeping of mass amounts of slaves. These slaves, called thralls, are very rarely trow themselves, who abhor menial labor. Instead, trow culture concerns itself with what it calls "The Three Sensations": musical performance, alcoholic intoxication, and sexual gratification. The Three Sensations are often combined in long, intensive religious rites, and the highest position a trow can reach is his society is as a High Priest. In the same way, the trow value divine magic as a much higher form of magic, of visceral artistry, than the intellectual, overly academic arcane magic favored by elves. The one exception to this preference of divine over arcane is the trow's great love of bardic magic. The trow believe that the Divinities blessed the mortal races with aptitude for the arcane arts only so that the mortals could offer bardic music to the Divinities as a type of offering. Thus, trow look down upon the use of arcane magic for what they see as selfish uses. After High Priests, bards are the most valued members in trowish society, and traditional trowish music prominently features lyras, bagpipes and large drums, with a piercing, trance-like quality. The trow diet consists mostly of potatoes, grown in massive quantities by the thralls, and it is from potatoes that the trow distill their famous akvavit, a type of liquor integral to trow religion and the most important export (along with potatoes) in the trow economy. A further illustration of the vast cultural differences between trow and elves relates to akvavit: Trowish Akvavit remains one of the few non-dwarven drinks the infamously picky dwarves will occasionally enjoy, while elven wine is commonly mocked by dwarves. While the trow and dwarves are certainly not friendly, their exists between them a healthy respect which is often difficult to find between elves and dwarves. In combat, trow prefer to use traps and trickery if at all possible. If forced to confront an enemy directly, they prefer the use of crossbows, often equipped with a type of harpoon, after which the target is netted. Alternatively, when catching slaves, trow employ trademark mancatchers, exotic polearms able to bind a quarry with curved metal bands. After successfully trapping an opponent, trow mercilessly employ trademark tridents, preferring to remain a distance from enemies whenever possible. While trow actively keep slaves, and live a decadent, hedonistic existence, they are not strictly evil. The whims of the Divinities, however, often take shape in both good and evil actions. As such, most trow are chaotic neutral, but the trowish love of philosophy and debate means that a significant number of trow decide to promote either a greater good, or a viler evil. Trow Characters Trow are defined by their class levels—they do not possess racial Hit Dice. All trow have the following racial traits. +2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, –2 Constitution: Trow have powerful, forceful personalities, and are natural performers, but are slight of frame. Medium: Trow are Medium creatures, and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size. Normal Speed: Trow have a base speed of 30 feet. Darkvision: Trow can see in the dark up to 120 feet. Shadow Hunter: Trow possess incredible stealth even while moving through obstructed areas. Trow reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving by 5, and reduce the Stealth check penalty for sniping by 10. Dreamspeaker: Trow have the ability to tap into the power of sleep, dreams, and prescient reverie. Trow add +1 to saving throw DCs for spells of the divination school and sleep effects they cast. In addition, trow with a Charisma of 15 or higher may use dream once per day as a spell-like ability (caster level is equal to the trow’s character level). Natural Performer: Trow receive a +2 racial bonus to all Perform skills. Hearth-Blooded: Trow have cold resistance 5. Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds trow for 1 round; on subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area. Weapon Familiarity: Trow are proficient with all crossbows, tridents, and mancatchers.